The 1968 Wellington City mayoral election was part of the New Zealand local elections held that same year. In 1968, elections were held for the

Mayor of Wellington The Mayor of Wellington is the head of the municipal government of the City of Wellington. The mayor presides over the Wellington City Council. The mayor is directly elected using the Single Transferable Vote method of proportional representat ...

plus other local government positions including fifteen city councillors. The polling was conducted using the standard

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

electoral method.

Background

Initially, long-serving councillor

Denis McGrath Denis McGrath (September 21, 1968 – March 23, 2017) was a Canadian screenwriter and producer. Born in New York City, he resided and worked in Toronto. McGrath started his career as a TV producer at the educational network TVOntario. In 1993, ...

announced his candidacy for Mayor on behalf of the Citizens' Association. He withdrew in June after he was appointed President of the

New Zealand Law Society The New Zealand Law Society ( mi, Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa) is the parent body for barristers and solicitors in New Zealand. It was established in 1869, and regulates all lawyers practising in New Zealand. Membership of the society is voluntary, ...

and decided not to seek re-election as a councillor either. This generated press speculation that the Citizens' Association would decide not field a candidate. However, despite previously declining to stand, deputy mayor Bob Archibald eventually accepted nomination following a deputation of local businessman requesting that he stand. Ultimately,

Frank Kitts Sir Francis Joseph Kitts (1 May 1912 – 16 March 1979) was a New Zealand politician. He was the longest-serving mayor of Wellington, holding the post from 1956 to 1974. He was the Labour Member of Parliament for between and 1960. Early lif ...

was re-elected mayor for a fifth term. In doing so he won both a record size majority and became Wellington's longest-serving mayor.

Mayoralty results

Councillor results

References

Mayoral elections in Wellington 1968 elections in New Zealand Politics of the Wellington Region 1960s in Wellington October 1968 events in New Zealand {{NewZealand-election-stub